Walls
by Catching Tomorrow
Summary: Germany and Prussia manage to talk through a hole in the Berlin Wall.


**I've been meaning to write a Berlin Wall fanfic for ages, but I never got around to it for one reason or another. But it's done now! It was kind of sad, actually. I've always wondered how Germany and Prussia would be affected by the Wall and so, of course, I had to write about it. I've been writing almost non-stop recently... but anyway, I have nothing else to say here unless you want me to ramble on for another paragraph so, without further ado, here it is.**

**Further ado: If Hetalia was mine I wouldn't have to write fanfiction about it.**

****In real life Prussia would have to pass a second wall, minefields and anti-tank trenches, but in real life neither of them would exist either. Like Hetalia, this is a metaphor ^_^****

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><p>Germany put his hands in the pockets of his thick overcoat and drew his knees up to his chest, trying not to shiver as snowflakes landed lightly on the street around him. He watched the traffic pass by, car tyres crunching through the frost as the people of Berlin made their way home from work. His citizens were fine, he could feel that much. Maybe he didn't have as much freedom as he used to, maybe his pride as a nation was still bruised, but he was still here. Despite everything, Germany had always been an optimist. His people were happy, peaceful, well-fed; it was, all things considered, a good time for his country.<p>

His half of it, anyway.

The wall was cold against his back as he rested his weight against it, hard against the back of his head. He ran a gloved hand along the rough surface, feeling the bumped and scratched but completely, depressingly whole wall. It was just tall enough to stop you from climbing it, well-protected enough to stop you from crossing it and just thick enough to make him doubt if it would ever come down. He didn't want to go through – far from it, in fact – but he would've liked it if people from the other side were allowed to pass the checkpoints and visit the countries left on the fortunate side of the Iron Curtain.

"West? You there?"

A voice came faintly through the tiny hole right next to his ear. He smiled; this was what he'd spent the last hour sitting here waiting for. "Prussia?"

"Oh, thank God, dude. I thought this was gonna be like last time when I had to sit out in the snow for an hour freezing my arse off. Not awesome."

"I had an important meeting and it overran. I thought I explained that to you."

"Whatever," sighed Prussia. There was a scuffling noise that sounded as though he was leaning backwards against the wall, right opposite Germany. "How's things down your end?"

"They're fine, thanks. We've been having major economic booms and production's really-" he stopped himself, remembering his brother's miniscule attention span. He'd learnt his lesson a month ago, after he'd talked about economics and politics for an hour straight before realising that Prussia had simply got up and walked away, leaving him chattering happily away to himself. That had been embarrassing enough the first time. "Nothing important. How are you?"

"I'm awesome as ever, duh. I don't even know why you still have to ask that."

"Force of habit, I guess..." sighed Germany. That question was always useless. Prussia never said anything straight out; you always had to trick him into admitting things that weren't part of his tough, arrogant façade. The wall keeping him from his brother's emotions was just as thick as the one keeping him from his country. "How are the others?"

"They're not as awesome as me. Never were. They're fine, though. Romania has a cold-"

"Still? You told me Romania had a cold last month."

"It's a pretty un-awesome cold, okay? He's not dead or anything."

Germany bit his lip. He'd known Prussia for as long as he could remember and he knew what it meant when his voice got impatient like that. Not that he was lying, necessarily, but that he was downplaying the truth. _Maybe Romania really does just have a runny nose_, he told himself. But he couldn't make himself believe it. He shook his head to dislodge the thought and kept going; there was no point quizzing his brother on things that he didn't want to give answers to. "How's Hungary? Austria's been mad with worry."

"Oh, don't talk to me about _him_. You know, the most awesome thing about being stuck behind this wall is not having to worry about stupid Austria this, Austria that..."

"Austria barely ever speaks to you," said Germany quietly. "Any worrying you do is your own fault."

"My fault? How is it _my _fault that that sissy-"

"You shouldn't talk about him like that. He's been around to my house every day asking if I have any news from Hungary. He looks all scruffy and I don't think he's eating that much."

"Tell him I said to do the world a favour and starve to death, will you?"

"You just hate him because Hungary likes him more than you." The words were out of Germany's mouth before he could stop them. "I'm sorry," he said quickly, regret flooding through him. "I didn't mean that." There was a scuffling sound from the other side of the wall; Prussia was climbing to his feet. "I'm sorry!" called Germany through the hole. "Don't go! Forget I said anything."

There was a short silence in which he wasn't sure if his brother was still there, but then there was another noise as Prussia sank back down again. Germany sighed in relief; he rarely got to speak to him these days and he didn't want to ruin this meeting over something as trivial as that. "Hungary's fine," he said, ignoring Germany's comment.

"Really fine? Or you-fine?"

"What do you mean, _me-fine_?"

"The sort of fine where you're well enough to insist you're fine but everyone knows you aren't."

There was another short pause. "I _am _fine! I told you that! I'm awesome!"

Germany said nothing.

"I've always been fine and I always will be fine! They can't bring the awesome me down!"

Still nothing.

"Okay, so _maybe _I've been a little less fine than usual these days, but that doesn't mean anything!"

Germany stayed quiet. The more he waited, the more chance his brother would accidentally let some nugget of truth slip through the thick wall of his bravado.

"I really am fine! Awesomely fine! I'm... okay, it sucks over here. Happy? I'm not allowed to do anything and I have to spy on all my own people to check they're doing exactly what Russia wants. The reason I can only speak to you occasionally is because it's the only time I'm allowed out of my house. I haven't actually seen Romania at all, he just told me about his cold over the phone. I think he's really sick but he can't tell me because our phones are tapped. Poland nearly got shot for trying to sneak into the USSR house to see Lithuania even though they wouldn't give him any travel papers. Don't even ask me about the Baltics, I haven't seen them since the forties. Czech and Slovakia are under surveillance because they aren't being little Russia-clones and Albania's on thin ice now because he keeps supporting China over him. And Hungary... she had a revolution. You probably heard about it. She's always been a fighter, hasn't she? She's more of a man than Austria will ever be. But it didn't work. I don't know what happened – I wasn't there – but I haven't heard from her since. I know she's alive – Poland told me – but I haven't been able to reach her house to see her. I'm still trying, though. Still trying."

His voice trailed away as though he'd suddenly realised how much he'd just let on. Germany's mouth opened and closed soundlessly; he was at a complete loss for words. He knew that the situation on the other side of the Iron Curtain wasn't good, but he'd always assumed that it couldn't be much worse than his own. Maybe Russia watched them a bit more than was comfortable, maybe they got a bit less freedom than the capitalist countries, but how bad could it be, really? This new information came as an absolute shock, numbing his brain as much as the frost on the pavement was numbing his fingers. Life over the wall wasn't just not heaven, it was downright hell.

"Don't worry about me, though," said Prussia quickly, trying to make up for his previous slip. "I'm fine. I have it better than most of them, actually. I'm still awesome. Awesomely fine."

"Of course you are..." He had no doubt about that. His brother was as much the fighter as Hungary and he knew that he would never let this break him. He'd been though a lot in his life and he was still the same as ever, after all. But still... Germany knew that no-one should have to go through something like this.

"I miss you, West."

Germany sat up straight; his head snapped back and hit the wall with a _thud. _He rubbed it hastily, trying to process what Prussia had just said. He missed him? That was so... so un-Prussia-like. He'd never heard him voice any feelings deeper than hunger or irritation before, and it was a jarring experience. His voice made it even worse; it wasn't loud or obnoxious, but quiet and a little bit choked. Like he was trying not to cry. _That can't be right. I don't think Prussia even has tear ducts._

"I mean, not in a sissy-girly way or anything," he said, making a fast recovery. "But I used to see you all the time, every day for centuries, and now... it's hard to get used to not having you around."

"I miss you too," said Germany, before he could stop himself. His house was so much quieter without Prussia stomping around, breaking things and being an annoyance. He'd often wished that his brother would leave and, if he'd heard about the Berlin Wall while he was trying to do paperwork at the same time as making sure Prussia wasn't turning any important documents into paper aeroplanes, he would've been very enthusiastic about the idea. But now... things weren't the same. He was lonely, and Austria's increasingly frequent visits weren't so much a relief as a reminder of how worrying the situation was. The albino was inches away from him right now, but he might as well have been on the other side of the world.

"Well, I knew that much. Who wouldn't miss the awesome me?"

_And he ruins the moment. Of course._

"But anyway, enough with the heart-to-heart or I might end up all gay like Austria and that would be totally un-awesome. What time is it?"

Germany checked his watch, wondering vaguely why Prussia didn't have one. "Half past six, why?"

"Really? Shit. I've got to be back home by quarter to or Russia's guards'll kill me. See ya, West."

"Wait!" _He's going? Just like that? He only just got here!_ "Tell Romania I hope he gets better soon. And I really do hope you get to see Hungary."

"Thanks, West. Me too." Then there was silence, but no scuffling to suggest movement on the other side of the hole. Thirty seconds passed, then, "This wall won't be here forever."

"Of course it won't be," said Germany. "It'll come down. The Iron Curtain'll come down. Just you wait and see."

"Oh, I will. No wall can contain my awesomeness for long!"

"I'll be waiting, you know. We'll see each other again."

"Yeah, yeah," said Prussia. His own walls were well and truly back up now and just as solid as the one digging into Germany's back. "You hold that thought. I've really gotta go."

"See you next time, then."

"See ya, West."

He heard his brother climb to his feet and walk away, his footsteps crunching through the frost until they were drowned out by the sound of traffic. Germany stayed sitting, running his fingers over the wall as though looking for another hole or a tiny imperfection that might allow him to push his way through. But he knew that was impossible. Security was tight along the Berlin Wall and anyone trying to get to the other side of the city without the proper papers would be in deep trouble, even if they were a nation. The wall was cold under his fingers, even through his gloves; cold, unforgiving and ruthless, just like the regime that had built it. The regime that was forcing his brother to hurry back to his own house like a child late for curfew.

His fingers hit something strange. He turned to inspect it, cold water from the floor soaking the knees of his trousers. A crack. It was only a small crack, not even nearly deep enough to let him see through to the other side, but it was a crack all the same. Germany felt a small smile tug at the edges of his mouth as he stood up and walked away, thrusting his hands into his coat pockets for warmth. Both his brother's and his capital's walls were cracked. It would take time, but maybe someday not too far away both would come crashing down.

After all, there was always hope.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review if you liked it, disliked it or just have something to say! Reviews make me far happier than they should.<strong>


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